- Somalia: Renewed clashes erupt between regime troops, militias
Source: ABC News
“Renewed fighting erupted early Thursday between government forces and militias on the outskirts of Somalia’s southwestern city of Baidoa, with reports of heavy gunfire and civilians fleeing their homes. Somalia’s Defense Ministry said government forces responded to an attack by fighters loyal to former South West state President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen and the al-Qaida-linked extremist group al-Shabab. The clashes are the latest escalation in a political and security dispute between Somalia’s federal government and Laftagareen over control of South West state. Federal forces took control of Baidoa on March 30, after which Laftagareen resigned. He had governed the state since 2018.” (09/03/26)
- US House passes bill to defund universities displaying insufficiently fervent loyalty to a foreign power
Source: Haaretz [Israel]
“Thirty-three Democrats in the U.S. House joined nearly all Republicans to pass a bill Thursday that would require colleges and universities to certify that they are not engaged in a ‘nonexpressive commercial boycott’ of Israel in order to receive federal funding. The legislation was endorsed by pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, while most liberal Jewish groups, including J Street and Democratic leadership, opposed the measure. The Republican-majority chamber voted 237-169 in favor of the ‘Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act,’ which would have to pass the Senate to become law.” (09/03/26)
- Nvidia announces $12.9 billion acquisition of Hugging Face
Source: United Press International
“Nvidia announced on Thursday that it has agreed to acquire open-source AI company Hugging Face for $12.9 billion. The acquisition will bring a platform that is used by 18 million people, including researchers and developers, under Nvidia’s ownership. Hugging Face has been used to share more than 3 million models, 500,000 datasets and 1 million applications, Nvidia said in a blog post.” (09/03/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/09/03/nvidia-acquirers-hugging-face/4201788442987/
- Estonia: Defense minister resigns after procurement scandal
Source: Politico
“Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur resigned Wednesday evening after national auditors accused his ministry of spending irregularities and a scandal involving undelivered ammunition for Ukraine. The center-right politician, who has served as minister since 2022, said he would step down one day after after reports emerged that his ministry had awarded a €70 million artillery contract to an Indian company with no record of ammunition sales. Estonia took the case to the European Court of Arbitration after the shells were not delivered. … Pevkur faced calls to resign after Estonia’s national audit office last month found ‘serious problems’ in the use of funds and accounting of assets in the defense ministry. The watchdog made similar claims last year.” (09/03/26)
https://www.politico.eu/article/estonian-defense-minister-resigns-after-procurement-scandal/
- MO: Candidate charged with trying to plant cocaine on his political rival
Source: SFGate
“A candidate for the Missouri House made an initial court appearance Thursday on a federal drug charge accusing him of trying to plant cocaine and Adderall on his Republican primary opponent. Thomas Ross, 37, is charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. He’s accused of asking a campaign manager to plant a small amount of cocaine and a prescription amphetamine pill on his opponent, Louise Secker, in the weeks leading up to the Aug. 4 primary, according to court documents. Ross, of Joplin, defeated Secker by only a few dozen votes. Ross did not respond to a Thursday message seeking comment about the charge, which was filed Wednesday. The federal public defender’s office assigned to his case didn’t immediately reply to a message asking how Ross plans to plead. Missouri’s Republican Party chairman, Peter Kinder, called on Ross to drop out of the race, describing the circumstances of his arrest as ‘serious and deeply troubling’.” (09/03/26)
- Gloria Steinem, 1934-2026
Source: Reuters
“Gloria Steinem, the American writer, lecturer, activist and organizer who fought for gender equality and women’s civil and reproductive rights for more than five decades, has died, her foundation said. She was 92 years old. The co-founder and consulting editor of Ms. Magazine championed the feminist movement from the late 1960s onwards and inspired generations of women. … Steinem founded the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971 with former U.S. Representatives Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm and writer Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book ‘The Feminine Mystique’ ushered in the second wave of feminism. Among other groups, she also created the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Women’s Media Center, Voters for Choice, and the Ms. Foundation for Women.” (09/03/26)
https://www.reuters.com/world/feminist-activist-gloria-steinem-dies-age-92-2026-09-03/
- Germany: Far-right party targets iconic Bauhaus school ahead of landmark state election
Source: Asssociated Press
“Nearly a century after the Nazis shut down the world-famous Bauhaus school of design, it has once again become a cultural battleground between Germany’s establishment and the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has called the art movement an ‘aberration of modernism.’ Founded in 1919, Bauhaus blurred lines between art and industry, influencing global design to this day. … Attacks on Bauhaus by Alternative for Germany, also known as AfD, come as Saxony-Anhalt in eastern Germany is about to vote in an election that could see a far-right party take control of one of the country’s states for the first time since World War II. AfD hopes to gain an absolute majority in the state legislature in the election on Sunday, an outcome that would shake German politics and possibly have repercussions for the region’s cultural freedom.” (09/03/26)
- UN Says World Will Miss Its Climate Target, Warming Must Be Reversed
Source: New York Times
“The world has failed in its [sic] goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times, the United Nations said on Wednesday, in a sober assessment that laid out a new goal for fighting climate change that would set the world on an uncertain path. A decade ago, most of the world’s countries agreed in Paris to try to limit global temperature rise to ‘well below’ two degrees Celsius while aiming for the more ambitious target of 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. But Wednesday’s 141-page U.N. report warned that the world is certain to breach that mark and should focus on finding ways to limit ‘overshoot’ and eventually bring global temperatures back down.” (09/03/26)
- Brazil: Regime considers reciprocal measures after EU halts imports of Brazilian goods
Source: Seattle Times
“Brazil’s government and exporters of meat, poultry, eggs, honey and other animal products were scrambling Thursday after a European Union deadline passed, triggering a suspension of imports over concerns about the use of antibiotics and antimicrobial drugs in livestock. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s agriculture ministry said Thursday that it would consider reciprocal measures if a satisfactory solution is not reached. … The EU announced the suspension Tuesday, to become effective two days later. Brazil, the world’s largest beef exporter, shipped about 108,000 tons of beef worth about $1 billion to the EU in 2025, according to government figures. The bloc announced in May that Brazil would be removed from its list of countries authorized to export certain animal products to the bloc, arguing that Brazil had failed to provide sufficient guarantees that its livestock production meet EU standards against antibiotic growth promoters and other restricted drugs.” (09/03/26)
- Spain: Sánchez struggles to answer lawmakers about Ceuta border crisis
Source: SFGate
“A day after tens of thousands of Spaniards protested the government’s handling of the Ceuta border crisis, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez struggled to field lawmakers’ questions about the matter, including what role Morocco played in the deadly mass crossing in July. Five weeks after the incident, it remains unclear how 72,000 people were able to stream across the border shared by the Spanish exclave in North Africa and Morocco in the first place. While rejecting suggestions that Moroccan authorities helped orchestrate the incident, Sánchez said Moroccan police ‘allowed the border to be crossed’. Sánchez said his government would release key reports about the border breach, but did not say when they would be made public or what they would entail. He also elevated the official death toll from the event to 141 people, up significantly from the most-recent estimate of a total 96 in Spain and Morocco, provided by authorities in Ceuta and Morocco’s National Human Rights Council.” (09/03/26)
- Judge blocks Trump’s latest attempt to repeal 14th Amendment by executive order
Source: Politico
“A federal judge has blocked one of President Donald Trump’s latest attempts to limit birthright citizenship. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday barring enforcement of provisions in an executive order Trump signed last month seeking to deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to foreign parents who came in a ‘commercial transaction’ to gain citizenship or whose parents are ‘alien enemies.’ Boardman said Trump’s new order defies the Supreme Court’s ruling in June striking down the key provisions of a more sweeping directive he issued on his first day in office that sought to end birthright citizenship for children born to foreigners not in the U.S. legally [sic] or in the country on limited-duration visas.” (09/02/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/02/birthright-citizenship-order-ruling
- ICE gang member fedrally charged with lying over shooting
Source: CNN
“An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has been federally charged with lying about the events leading up to his shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in the leg earlier this year, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The charges against ICE officer Christian Castro are not yet publicly available, but a person familiar with the matter told CNN that he is facing several counts of making false statements. This is the first time the Justice Department has charged an officer for conduct that occurred on-duty during highly publicized immigration operations nationwide. Local prosecutors in Minnesota had already charged Castro with second-degree assault and making a false report earlier this year.” (09/03/26)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/03/politics/ice-officer-christian-castro-federal-charges
- Norwegian pirates steal Russian ship in Arctic over Crimea compensation claim
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Norway has seized a Russian ship in the Arctic to enforce a compensation claim by Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz, linked to Russian asset seizures in Crimea. Norway seized the ship on Wednesday, after Moscow failed to pay Naftogaz $4.22bn plus interest and legal costs to compensate for assets it seized in Crimea after a tribunal ruling at The Hague in 2023. … The vessel, the Professor Molchanov, was taken off the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard after a 24-hour standoff with the Norwegian Coast Guard, according to Covington, the US law firm representing Naftogaz.” (09/003/26)
- British police try to track down theft of 70,000 pints worth of Guinness stout
Source: SFGate
“British police have a stout task ahead: recovering 70,000 pints worth of stolen Guinness. Two trailer truckloads of the famously creamy dark beer valued at 115,000 pounds ($155,000) were stolen from a depot near Liverpool in northwest England, the Cheshire Constabulary said Thursday. ‘It is famously said that ‘Guinness is good for you,’ but that is only the case when it has been bought and paid for,’ Det. Sgt. Gary McClatchy said. ‘We will settle for nothing less than the full recovery of all the items stolen.’ The Guinness had been destined for pubs, but was snatched Monday night by two drivers who pulled up to an industrial park in Runcorn and hauled away the trailers containing about 800 barrels of stout. The value of the trailers was estimated at 50,000 pounds ($67,000).” (09/03/26)
- Pentagon makes testosterone screening mandatory for US service members effective immediately
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“The U.S. Pentagon issued detailed guidance on Wednesday for a new, mandatory testosterone deficiency screening policy for active-duty and reserve service members age 30 and older, a follow-up to a July announcement from U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The guidance, which is effective immediately, establishes standardized screening and treatment pathways for men and women that the Pentagon says are aimed at improving military readiness by identifying and managing hormonal and energy-availability issues. Hegseth, who has promoted the use of testosterone, announced the mandate last month, raising questions among experts about whether there was a scientific basis for such a policy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to hold a meeting of experts to discuss medical use of testosterone in mid-September.” (09/02/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/testosterone-testing-us-military-9.7330202
- Iranian missiles, drones strike Kuwait
Source: Associated Press
“Iran fired at Kuwait Thursday, continuing its retaliation for U.S. bombardments earlier in the week. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to unite Israel’s right wing before elections this October. … Sirens sounded in Kuwait early Thursday, where air defenses intercepted missile and drone attacks during a ‘blatant Iranian aggression,’ the country’s Ministry of Defense said on X. It came after U.S. allies Bahrain and Jordan said their air defense systems intercepted several Iranian air attacks Wednesday.” (09/03/26)
- US House rejects GOP constitutional amendment to limit SCOTUS to nine justices
Source: CBS News
“A Republican-proposed constitutional amendment to limit the Supreme Court to nine justices failed in the House on Wednesday, coming up well short of the two-thirds majority support needed for adoption. The House voted 212 to 206 on a joint resolution to approve the amendment, which was proposed by GOP Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona. The amendment would require that ‘the Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine justices consisting of one chief justice and eight associate justices.’ … Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate and then ratification by three-fourths of the states. It’s the latest vote this week that Republicans are using to target the positions of the Democratic Socialists of America as several candidates who embrace its positions are poised to become members of Congress next year. On Tuesday, the House adopted a resolution condemning socialism ‘in all its forms.'” (09/03/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-supreme-court-constitutional-amendment-vote/
- Putin floats “chance” at peace with Ukraine as NATO chief warns Russia is becoming “increasingly reckless”
Source: CNBC
“Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Thursday that there is a ‘chance’ at ‘peace’ with Ukraine, but said Kyiv’s warnings to airlines to avoid Russian airspace amounted to ‘state terrorism.’ ‘Ultimately…the problem must be resolved by the countries involved in the conflict – Russia and Ukraine,’ he said in translated remarks at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, a city in Eastern Russia. ‘Is there a chance [at peace]? In my view, yes, there is.’ It comes after NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday said Russia is becoming ‘increasingly reckless,’ citing missiles and drones crossing Europe’s eastern flank, and an alleged Russian hybrid attack at Germany’s Leipzig airport last month.” (09/03/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/03/putin-peace-russia-ukraine-nato-defense.html
- China’s Xi seeks trade routes in Egypt, Central Asia to bypass tariffs and Western rules
Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]
“President Xi Jinping’s journey from Central Asia to Egypt highlights Beijing’s efforts to strengthen alternative trade, energy and manufacturing networks across Eurasia and Africa, analysts said, as wars and tariffs expose a reliance on vulnerable supply routes and overseas markets. … According to a joint statement issued by China and Egypt on Thursday, the two sides will explore cooperation in renewable energy, data centres, semiconductors and space applications, as well as critical-mineral supply chains, agriculture and car manufacturing. The two countries also welcomed the renewal and potential expansion of their bilateral currency-swap agreement and called for greater use of the yuan and Egyptian pound in trade and investment settlements.” (09/03/26)
- Patagonia sues Trump over slashing of protected areas in Utah
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear company, has joined a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s decision to significantly reduce the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, removing protections from nearly 3m acres. In July, the president approved the reduction of the sites by 90%, clearing the way to open the land to oil and gas companies. … The retailer announced on Wednesday it was joining a lawsuit to put a stop to what it described as illegal orders that ‘betray Tribal sovereignty’. … The Natural Resources Defense Council, which filed the federal lawsuit on Wednesday along with several other conservation groups, described Trump’s proclamations as ‘one of the largest rollbacks of public land protections in US history’.” (09/02/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/02/trump-patagonia-lawsuit-utah-national-monuments
- Better Serfdom Is Not Freedom
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“For the life of me, I just cannot understand why anyone would choose serfdom over freedom. After all, we’ve been given only one life to live. Wouldn’t it be better to live that one life in freedom rather than serfdom? The answer seems self-evident to me. It goes without saying that both conservatives and progressives accepted the serfdom society a long time ago. Today, both of them are enthusiastic supporters of it. However, unfortunately there is also a large number of libertarians who have chosen serfdom over freedom. That just makes no sense to me. Libertarianism is about freedom, not serfdom.” (09/03/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/09/03/better-serfdom-is-not-freedom/
- “The System” Is Not “Stacked Against” Anyone
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter“It was a really funny and informative moment on CNN, and like most funny and informative moments on CNN, it did not involve anyone who calls themselves a ‘journalist’ and works for CNN. It involved a failed sports ‘journalist’, a libertarian podcaster, and it demonstrated just how ill-suited for any kind of challenge to their talking points these leftists really are. ‘It’s one thing to not think capitalism is working ideally. It’s another thing entirely to insist that it is oppressive, that it is bound up with white supremacy,’ said podcaster Kmele Foster. Jemele Hill, the former ESPN host who spent most of her on-air time whining about politics, always complaining and lying about conservatives, and was so bad she was finally let go, responded, ‘How is it not?'” (09/03/26)
- State Film Subsidies Lose Money. Trump Wants To Try the Idea Nationally.
Source: Reason
by Tosin Akintola“There’s ‘no reason to think a federal incentive would work any differently from state incentives,’ says one expert.” (09/03/26)
- Want to save NATO? Ask its members to do less.
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Johan Wennstrom“This summer the Pentagon handed NATO members a questionnaire asking whether they support in part, ‘U.S. foreign policy priorities.’ Dubbed a ‘loyalty test’ in the press, it was seen by many Europeans as the most recent sign that the alliance is coming apart because of American petulance. Yet what is actually happening is that the U.S. is putting stress on an inherently flawed and now exhausted form of alliance politics. The roots of the present discord were planted not in the 2024 reelection of President Donald Trump, but in the moment of NATO’s Cold War triumph thirty years earlier. Indeed, one of the more puzzling developments after the dissolution of both the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact was the conviction of Western leaders that the time was ripe for new, grand projects of expansion and integration.” (09/03/26)
- Hey Americans! Escape Debt By Going To War With Iran!
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Today in dystopia, war pundits have begun suggesting that the US could recruit sufficient troops for a ground invasion of Iran by offering young Americans debt forgiveness in exchange for enlisting. I guess it was only a matter of time. … In a Twitter essay on the same subject published earlier this month, AJ Jaff used more blunt language: ‘When the choice is decades chained to $45,000+ in debt, or a few years of service that erases it and hands you a clean start, a huge share of desperate young people will take the offer. Not because they ‘support the war’. Because the debt was engineered into a cage, and service is the ONLY door out.'” (09/03/26)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/09/03/hey-americans-escape-debt-by-going-to-war-with-iran/
- What Does $24 Billion Buy in the California Housing Market?
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson“Good news for housing-hungry Californians: A new development in Orange County was approved in May. The bad news: Approval took almost 50 years. The Saddleback Meadows project in Trabuco Canyon, California, first appeared on the Orange County supervisors’ agenda in 1978—when your favorite correspondent, who passed the eligibility age for unrestricted AARP membership a few years back, was in kindergarten. As my Competitive Enterprise Institute colleague Steve Swedberg points out, most projects do not undergo such incredible delays, but the ordinary approval process is enough to add almost $40,000 to the cost of building an average new home—not only in California but across the United States.” (09/03/26)
https://thedispatch.com/article/california-housing-market-subsidies/
- DC’s Paid Family Leave cuts take the “trust” out of “trust fund”
Source: Niskanen Center
by Sylvia Bryan“When the Council of the District of Columbia finalized its version of the municipal FY2027 budget, it set the city on a path toward a troubling milestone: As of October 1, D.C. will become the first jurisdiction in the country to implement cuts to paid family and medical leave (PFML). A majority of the program’s dedicated payroll tax revenue, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, will be diverted to unrelated expenditures. Meanwhile, the maximum weekly benefit will be decreased for all PFML categories, the maximum leave duration will be reduced for some, and D.C. will continue collecting the program’s dedicated payroll tax at a rate of 0.75 percent.” (09/03/26)
https://www.niskanencenter.org/d-c-s-paid-family-leave-cuts-take-the-trust-out-of-trust-fund
- The Benevolent Smokescreen
Source: Law & Liberty
by Sary Levy-Carciente“In contemporary political economy, it is sometimes helpful to draw a distinction between a Proper State and an Improper State. The distinction tracks the relationship of the state’s public sector apparatuses to the productivity and fiscal consent of its citizenry. When a state is properly accountable to its citizens, it uses taxpayer revenue to support functions that the people broadly approve. If that traditional bond of institutional accountability is severed, a more pathological configuration materializes wherein the state operates independently, decoupling its structural survival from the prosperity of its people. The improper state maintains its power with two primary tools: narrative and institutional control.” (09/03/26)
- Healthcare is more badly broken than political leaders admit
Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
by Marj Halperin“Raise your hand if you have affordable, accessible healthcare. Anyone? Yeah, that’s what I thought. With independent studies showing that close to half of all Americans struggle to afford healthcare, I expect I got the rest of you with the addition of the word ‘accessible.’ That’s because, while rising costs are a barrier for too many, even those who can afford comprehensive health insurance are finding money can’t buy you a timely appointment with most doctors.” (09/03/26)
- New Delhi’s Strategy Shows Why Protectionism Fails
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott“This month, there will be over 400 Chinese officials in New Delhi—more than double the previous delegation in 2019—to discuss the future of Sino–Indian relations. For China, those relations have never been more favorable; India’s position on the world stage has declined, though not in ways caused by China, making the prospect of resumed and increased trade between the two nations increasingly likely.” (09/03/26)
https://fee.org/articles/new-delhis-strategy-shows-why-protectionism-fails/
- America’s quiet socialist takeover spreading from town halls to classrooms
Source: Fox News
by Rosemary Becchi“The socialist experiment in America is no longer confined to Washington or deep-blue national politics. It is coming to city halls and school boards across the country, where low-turnout elections can transform ambitious ideology into binding budgets and classroom policy. Local government often affects Americans’ everyday lives more directly than Washington, shaping taxes, municipal services, schools, policing and housing. Americans should therefore pay close attention to the DSA’s steady advance into local government, where ideological commitments can collide with fiscal limits, practical administration and community preferences.” [editor’s note: The MAGA version isn’t as quiet, but it’s just as socialist – TLK] (09/03/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/americas-quiet-socialist-takeover-spreading-town-halls-classrooms
- Data Center Paradox
Source: Independent Institute
by Alex Tokarev & Kristin Tokarev“Data centers can lower costs, but states shouldn’t waste tax subsidies on them.” (09/03/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/09/03/data-center-paradox/
- Making Sense of Failures in US Defense Funding
Source: Cato Institute
by Benjamin Giltner“Congress and the Trump administration are not at blame for investing too little in America’s military; they are at fault for taking on too many national security projects. To quote a favorite line from the Rolling Stones, ‘You can’t always get what you want.'” (09/03/26)
- How the Dollar Became American
Source: The Daily Economy
by Joakim Book“Brendan Greeley’s new book ‘The Almighty Dollar’ traces the dollar’s 500-year journey from a European silver coin to the shaky foundation of American financial power.” (09/03/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/how-the-dollar-became-american/
- Saving Lives Should Not Require Permission
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Joseph Varon“When did saving a life start to feel like breaking the rules? When did the doctor at the bedside become less trusted than the people making decisions from far away, such as administrators, regulators, or distant experts who have never met the patient? And how did a profession built on judgment, uncertainty, and moral responsibility end up rewarding people for just following orders? These aren’t just abstract questions. They decide who can act when someone is dying, and who gets blamed if the official plan fails.” (09/03/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/saving-lives-should-not-require-permission/
- Religion, Humanities, and the Public Good
Source: Liberal Currents
by Shaily Patel & Matthew Gabriele“The right wing’s assault on Religion and Humanities programs is an assault on our ability to understand the world, from Hindutva abroad to Christian Nationalism at home.” (09/03/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/religion-humanities-and-the-public-good/
- Teen-safety settlement is Meta’s shrewd move to hurt competitors
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Ian Ayres“The headlines this week wrote themselves: Meta, humbled at last, agrees to pay up to $17.1 billion and accept the strictest limits ever imposed on teenage social media use. A combined two-hour daily cap across Instagram and Facebook. A midnight-to-6 a.m. blackout. Age assurance. Attorneys general from 47 states, the District of Columbia, and three territories took a victory lap. But amid all this, Meta’s stock went up. Wall Street understood something the headlines missed. Meta did not simply buy peace. It bought a government-backed campaign to press the same restraints on its rivals — restraints that, by design, might cost rivals far more than they cost Meta, thus serving Meta’s interests.” (09/03/26)
- What the Flock? Exposing Big Tech’s Surveillance State
Source: Common Dreams
by Tim Karr“For many, Labor Day signifies a time of transition, the end of summer and the return to business as usual, whether it be school or work. But the holiday weekend was born out of a more radical past, and at a place charged with a history of protest and free expression. On September 5, 1882, more than 10,000 workers sacrificed a day’s pay to march on Union Square and demand an eight-hour workday and an end to child labor. The success of their protest paved the way for Labor Day to become a federal holiday in 1894. Initially a gated garden enclave for New York’s wealthiest, architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux redesigned Union Square in 1872 as an open plaza for public assembly and patriotic demonstration. By the beginning of the 20th century, Union Square became the epicenter of radical American politics, a setting for protests by anarchists and socialists.” (09/03/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/flock-big-tech-surveillance
- Imperialist Delusions and the Price of Fuel
Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman“During the 2024 campaign Donald Trump promised to cut energy prices in half. He has, instead, presided over soaring prices at the pump, which have played an important role in his collapse in the polls. Some might attribute this disaster to Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran, ignoring what appear to have been near-unanimous warnings by experienced military and intelligence officials that such a war would, in addition to disrupting oil supplies, overstretch the U.S. military and dangerously deplete stocks of munitions — which is exactly what happened. But Scott Bessent, Trump’s Treasury secretary, has found someone else to blame: Ukraine.” (09/03/26)
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/imperialist-delusions-and-the-price
- Admissions Standards Ration Scarce Resources
Source: The Daily Economy
by Art Carden“Mismatching students and institutions can hurt the very students such policies intend to help — while squandering scarce faculty talent on remedial math.” (09/02/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/admissions-standards-ration-scarce-resources/
- Iran is no Vietnam, but Trump is mimicking Lyndon Johnson’s failed approach
Source: The Hill
by Mark Toth & Jonathan Sweet“President Trump and his national security team are heading back to the future in Vietnam. No, we do not mean April 29, 1975, when the U.S. chaotically evacuated Saigon. Nor are we referring to the quagmire the Vietnam war had become by then. Rather, we refer to Operation Rolling Thunder, which began in March 1965 and ended just after Halloween in 1968. The U.S. military’s limited aerial campaign was intended to coerce the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table. Instead, over time, it began planting the seeds that resulted in Hanoi’s victory over South Vietnam ten years later. Today, Team Trump is attempting to wield a similar failed strategy in Iran.” (09/03/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/6066434-avoiding-vietnam-mistake-iran-conflict/
- Israel Faces Toxic Blowback From Its Genocide in Gaza
Source: Antiwar.com
by Andy Worthington“Dr. [Dianne] Woodward noted that, earlier this month, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and representatives of the Board of Peace established under Donald Trump to, ostensibly, oversee a new Palestinian-led administration in Gaza, ‘agreed to set up a working group on sanitation and public health affecting both Israel and Gaza’, although its ‘membership and detailed operating structure’ have not been made public. … Dr. Woodward also noted how, ironically, while trying to erase evidence of its genocide, Israel was importing from Gaza, ‘into undisclosed locations inside Israel and the West Bank’, some of ‘the estimated 60 million tonnes of rubble from Gaza’, without seeming to be aware that, in doing so, it is ‘potentially transferring the pollutants in that rubble directly to disposal or storage sites’ that will also affect the public health of Israelis.” (09/03/26)
- Government Welfare Makes Things Worse: Benjamin Franklin’s Forgotten Warning
Source: Tenth Amendment Center
by Michael Boldin“‘Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.’ That was James Madison, explaining that the modern federal welfare state is not authorized by the Constitution. Despite that, politicians today still insist that these programs aren’t just authorized, they’re also absolutely necessary to help people. But they ignore the fatal trap that Benjamin Franklin uncovered over 250 years ago: his long-forgotten warning that government welfare makes things worse.” (09/02/26)
- The Trump Administration’s Difficult Relationship with the Truth
Source: Independent Institute
by Caleb Petitt“As a social science, economics is meant to be apolitical. Research is meant to find out truths about the world we live in, particularly when it comes to markets. Government organizations such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Census Bureau, and Federal Reserve all play a role in collecting, organizing, and analyzing data on the country’s economic well-being. The Trump administration seems determined to chip away at their independence and weigh in on their analysis. Last year, President Trump fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the BLS, because he was displeased with a routine correction to a jobs number estimate. He has also tried to limit the Federal Reserve’s independence through executive orders, threatened to fire former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and repeatedly attempted to remove Dr. Lisa Cook as a Federal Reserve board member.” (09/02/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/09/02/trump-administration-relationship-truth/
- The Elephant in the Canadian Room
Source: American Greatness
by Victor Davis Hanson“At first glance, the current American-Canadian trade ‘war’ is absurd. We are neighbors with a long history of close friendship, speak the same language (for the most part), and spring from the same British civilization. Nearly one million Canadians reside in the United States. Given the two countries’ natural affinities, Canadians are nearly indistinguishable from Americans. Both sides have reasonable grievances over trade policy. Americans don’t like Canada’s perennial trade surpluses of more than $50 billion in a supposedly free-trade zone. They resent the fact that non-free-market China exports subsidized cheap steel and aluminum through Canada, giving Canadian auto and truck exports a price advantage. The United States also objects to Canada imposing a surcharge on American digital media companies to subsidize Canadian Indigenous and French-language content.” (09/03/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/03/the-elephant-in-the-canadian-room/
- Trump Hands Dems Their Best Gift Yet
Source: The Bulwark
by Lauren Egan“For months, Democrats running in competitive races have taken note of the widespread and growing public backlash to data centers and have begun elevating their opposition to them in campaign settings. Given the public perception that data centers are responsible for rising utility costs, Democrats have tied the proliferation of those facilities to the party’s overarching midterm theme of affordability, and they’ve blamed Republican incumbents for courting them. … in the past few weeks, Republican officials have seemingly started to wake up to the fact that their party is on the wrong political side of the issue. … All that, however, was before Trump’s Truth Social post Monday morning.” (09/02/26)
- Libertarians and Political Action
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Hamoon Soleimani“For most of the twentieth century, the trouble with libertarianism was never its ideas, it was its posture. Theorists stood outside the arena with folded arms, waiting for voters to reason their way to liberty, treating political philosophy as a kind of religion of non-participation. That turned one of the sharpest critiques of state power into a seminar-room parlor trick. While purists argued over who would pave the roads without a transportation ministry, the people who actually wanted power simply took it, grabbing the money, locking down capital, and dictating the granular details of everyday life. Surviving runaway state intervention means dropping the fantasy of keeping your hands clean, and giving up on a mass awakening that is never going to arrive.” (09/02/26)
https://mises.org/mises-wire/libertarians-and-political-action
- Vigilante? No, showing love
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton“No one in their right mind wants to actually kill someone. But sometimes, that is the only sane choice. A choice to take lethal action, defensively, to end the ability of the shooter to harm (more) people. Some would claim that this is a ‘civic duty’ or negatively, ‘taking justice into your own hands.’ That is often labeled as being a vigilante. We at TPOL believe it to be an act of love.” (09/02/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/09/02/vigilante-no-showing-love/
- Despite all of the rage, evidence doesn’t point to a genocide in Gaza
Source: New York Post
by David Harsanyi“In May 2025, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, went on BBC Radio and told the audience that 14,000 babies in Gaza were going to die ‘in the next 48 hours unless we can reach them’. Two days. Fourteen thousand babies. According to UNICEF, there are around 20,000 babies in the entirety of Gaza. Which means 70% of all infants were in danger of dying in mere hours. An ‘utterly chilling’ figure, Fletcher stressed. The New York Times, along with numerous other establishment media outlets, relayed Fletcher’s allegation to its credulous audience without any skepticism. The usual experts were summoned to discuss this unfolding famine on cable news. And the antisemites across social media amplified the claim. No matter how far-fetched a story is about Israel, including preposterous evidence-free accusations that it trains dogs to rape Palestinians, papers such as The New York Times will spread it to feed the perception that the Jewish state operates as a genocidal entity.” (09/02/26)
- In Hong Kong, remembering the past is now a crime
Source: spiked
by Chloe Lo“The lies are all aligned now. For 37 years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has tried to erase the truth of what happened on 4 June 1989. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of peaceful protesters were massacred by the military in Tiananmen Square. Since then, the CCP has censored what happened and silenced those who refuse to forget. Hong Kong used to be different. For more than three decades, we gathered peacefully every year in Victoria Park. We lit candles, remembered those who died and called for accountability. It was one of the freedoms that separated Hong Kong from mainland China. That freedom is now gone.” (09/02/26)
- Social Media and Anti-Social Pluralism
Source: Aaron Ross Powell
by Aaron Ross Powell“Every day it seems we have some version of The Discourse About Social Media Community Values, Norms, and Tone. I see it on Bluesky now and mostly because that’s where I spend my time, but versions of it persist and recur, and reflect prior recurrences, on every platform and as far back as there have been social media platforms. The idea is that everyone, mashed together into a single feed (or a single global village or town square, or clustered around a single watercooler) has things to say about ‘What kind of place this should be.’ As if it can be one place. As if it should.” (09/02/26)
- Chaos in Elections Is the Goal of the USPS Election Mail Rule
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye“With the first ballots for the 2026 midterm election set to be mailed out this week, it seems we’re diving back into the sheer havoc the Trump administration is trying to wreak as voters decide who will control the House and the Senate in the 120th Congress. North Carolina election officials are scheduled to begin mailing absentee ballots to voters who requested them on Friday. Ordinarily, that would be a routine milestone in the election calendar. This year, it comes as the Trump administration is trying to force states to overhaul how they distribute mail ballots, only two months before Election Day. … The danger isn’t limited to administrative inconvenience or additional costs. If a state failed to comply, USPS could refuse to deliver ballots to voters who have a right to receive them under state law.” (09/02/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/chaos-in-elections-is-the-goal-of
- Another Monopoly Allowed to Stand
Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen“Google has been found liable for monopolization by federal judges twice now. Both times, however, the judges have allowed the company’s monopoly to remain intact. The rather dire message this sends to would-be monopolists is that their business model will be protected even if they are found to have broken the law. It’s an ominous development as the tech industry seeks to shift its dominance into artificial intelligence, even as enforcers find more ways that platforms are abusing their power. We don’t yet know everything about the latest ruling because it will be under seal for a couple of weeks. But we know the important thing: Google will be allowed to continue to run all sides of the advertising technology stack, including the ‘sell side’ where advertisers make bids, the ‘buy side’ where publishers offer inventory on their websites, and the ‘ad exchange’ where both sides come together in real-time auctions.” (09/03/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/09/03/another-monopoly-allowed-stand-google-adtech/
- A Clownish Doctor
Source: Pierre Lemieux
by Pierre Lemieux“The organicist fable of Menenius Agrippa is not the ne plus ultra of social thinking.” (09/02/26)
- Texas’s Efforts to Deny That Islam Is Even a Religion Will Jeopardize All Faiths
Source: The UnPopulist
by Asma Uddin“The Texas campaign is not simply discrimination against Muslims; more fundamentally, it is a demonstration of a mechanism that, once normalized, threatens the religious liberty of every American. Put simply: Once Texan officials or any other anti-Muslim agitator hands government a power liberal constitutionalism was built to deny—the power to decide which religion counts as ‘religion’—that power can be used against Christianity, Judaism, or any other religion.” (09/02/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/texas-efforts-to-deny-that-islam
- Joseph L. Verruni on Kruser and Krew
Source: Bluegrass Institute
“On WVLK’s Kruser and Krew, Joseph Verruni discusses energy costs and the challenges posed by data centers.” (09/03/26)
- Connor Echols on The Kyle Anzalone Show
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Why IS Israel Funding Ted Cruz’s Podcast? Is It Legal?” (09/03/26)
- Politico’s Nerdcast, 09/03/26
Source: Politico
“‘What the hell is going on with the Democratic Party?’ (with Stephen A. Smith).” (09/03/26)
- Underthrow Podcast, 09/03/26
Source: Underthrow
“In This House, We Believe… What, Exactly?” (09/03/26)
- The Headlines, 09/03/26
Source: New York Times
“U.S. Attack Hits Iranian Wedding, and Influencers Are Being Quietly Paid to Talk Politics.” (09/03/26)
- The Moynihan Report, 09/03/26
Source: The Moynihan Report
“Kiss’s Gene Simmons Just Wanted to Make His Mother Proud.” (09/03/26)
https://www.themoynihan.report/p/kisss-gene-simmons-just-wanted-to
- Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, 09/03/26
Source: Politico
“Harris’[s] red state blues.” (09/03/26)
- Advisory Opinions, 09/03/26
Source: The Dispatch
“SCOTUS Majority Rules White House Ballroom Is A Go.” (09/03/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/scotus-majority-rules-white-house-ballroom-is-a-go/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 09/03/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Texas Keeps The Ball Rolling — Gold & Silver Are Now Legal Tender.” (09/03/26)
- Radio Atlantic, 09/03/26
Source: The Atlantic
“Creating the Perfect Female Monster.” (09/03/26)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/09/furious-perfect-female-monster/688485
- The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen, 09/03/26
Source: The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen
“What Can the Presidents and First Ladies Teach Us About the American Idea?” (09/03/26)
https://rosenjeffrey.substack.com/p/what-can-the-presidents-and-first
- Half the Answer, episode 101
Source: Liberal Currents
“Donald Trump’s unprovoked trade war with Canada and his chaotic attacks on Iran have him hemorrhaging support in states he won in 2024. Why doesn’t he seem to care? What is he thinking? We can’t read minds, but we can talk to Greg Sargent from the New Republic about Trump’s statements, posts, and actions over the last month or so.” (09/03/26)
- Interviews by Claire Lehmann, 09/02/26
Source: Quillette
“Sydney psychiatrist Tanveer Ahmed on why men who quit work aren’t depressed but demoralised, and how mental health labels became a rival source of status and dignity.” (09/02/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/09/03/why-so-many-young-men-are-giving-up-on-work/
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/02/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Katz: Ethnic Cleansing the Only ‘Real Solution’ for Gaza, Iran Says US Strikes Killed 18, and More.” (09/02/26)
- The Chris Hedges Report, 09/02/26
Source: The Chris Hedges Report
“Fighting Big Money in Politics (w/ Karishma Manzur).” (09/02/26)
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/fighting-big-money-in-politics-w
- TAC Right Now, 09/02/26
Source: The American Conservative
“Andrew Day and Luke Nicastro talk to Connor Echols of Responsible Statecraft about Dan Driscoll’s resignation as Army secretary, Vice President J.D. Vance’s controversial speech to an Israel lobby group, whether the Iran War is becoming a Forever War, and Israel’s sponsoring ads on the podcast of Sen. Ted Cruz.” (09/02/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/j-d-vances-perplexing-moves-w-connor-echols/
- Andrew Day on The Kyle Anzalone Show
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Trump’s New Iran Strategy and Warning to Putin.” (09/02/26)
- LPA Solidarity Stream, episode 21
Source: LP Alliance
“David Beito, Phil Saunders, and their proposal for thinking outside the one-or-two-state paradigm.” (09/02/26)
- Kibbe on Liberty, episode 402
Source: Free the People
“Old Media’s Days Are Numbered | Guest: Bobby Sauce.” (09/02/26)
- Hard Lens Media, 09/02/26
Source: Hard Lens Media
“THOMAS MASSIE NAMES 14 Epstein Co-Conspirators On The House Floor — And Demands They Be Prosecuted.” (09/02/26)